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Tucked away in Cobble Hill, west of the BQE, Alma's skyline views of Manhattan, reputably delicious margaritas, and lantern-lit rooftop ought to draw you in even before you’ve tasted the food. Add the Dine-in-Brooklyn bargain offering a 3-course-meal for $19.55, and Gothamist couldn’t help but drag a crew to the Mexican-inspired locale for our fill of tamales, enchiladas, and homemade chips and salsa, brought in baskets and served with salsa verde and a spicy pico de gallo.
Gothamist and all four of our dining companions opted for the 3 course prix fixe menu. Two diners started with the tamales, two with the ensalada verde, and one with the flautas since disappointingly, Alma ran out of the ceviche -- shrimp, scallops, and snapper cured in lime juice with avocado and tomato -- originally Gothamist’s first appetizer choice. The tamales, masa (ground corn) filled with a mole marinated stuffing, was steamed in a corn husk and served with a side of vegetables pickled vegetables. The flautas -- striking the taste buds as souped up McDonald’s chicken mcnuggets -- were corn tortillas stuffed with shredded chicken, deep fried and served with an avocado salsa.
The entrée course also offered three selections: steak or chicken fajitas, tuna amarillo, and chicken or cheese enchiladas. One dining companion, usually reluctant to eat Mexican food, ordered the steak fajitas, requesting them without the side of refried beans. Forgetting the request, the waitress delivered the plate heaping with steak, avocado salsa, cojito cheese, pico de gallo and the unwanted beans, as well as a wicker basket with several corn tortillas. The steak was juicy and tender, but the diner’s distaste for beans gave the overall dish only a moderate rating.
Three dining companions opted for variations of the enchiladas, filled with a healthy dose of grilled chicken or cheese and topped with either a pumpkin seed sauce, spicy New Mexico coloradito, or a traditional mole sauce. The waitress highly recommended - insisted, even – that we try the chicken enchiladas over the cheese and of those, Gothamist liked the slightly sweet, but nutty and rich pumpkin seed sauce the best as flavor source.
The filet of tuna amarillo, rolled in spices, pan roasted, and served with escabeche, was tasty, but un-spectacular, less rich and almost sparse-looking besides the plates of enchiladas and fajitas. Gothamist decided that if you’re going to eat Mexican, you might as well eat cheese, tortillas, rice, and beans, and faulted in ordering the seafood dish – either a last ditch effort to be healthier or maybe just to try something different.
With our stomachs about to burst, we ordered dessert; four out of five inhaled the irresistible key lime pie from Steve’s Authentic while the odd-man-out tried the ancho chile chocolate cake, a flourless, dense cake with hints of pepper and a side of chocolate ice cream. Though both desserts were the highlight of the meal, Gothamist wishes we’d also ordered the traditional flan, a restaurant specialty.
In 75-degree weather with good company and a beautiful few of the NYC skyline, good food is made great, especially for a good price. Gothamist recommends a trip to Alma and the joint downstairs, B61, for atmosphere and a more-than filling dinner.
Alma, 187 Columbia Street, corner of Degraw St., Cobble Hill West, Brooklyn, 718-643-5400.
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Love this place. I ate there twice this week. Though I wish it was not all covered in a plastic tent.
Anybody know the nice guy that owns it???
I wanna fix a friend up with him.
yeah, there was only so much i could do with the steak...but it wasn't bad. but i do love steve's key lime pies, which automatically makes it a place to return for me.
how can you post pictures from alma and not feature a picture of the view?
i ate there once and liked it, but never went back after seeing its inspection results at the Department of Health. They had something like 9 violations (where the normal establishment might have 1 or 2 at most). yuck.
Not to quibble but I would think that Alma's in Red Hook. The BQE serves as a divider as I recall.
Their flan is fantastic.
Oh no - I can't believe the health-code violations, now I have to go look it up. :(
i second the quibble that alma is in red hook (hi brad!), although most people would actually call it caroll gardens. most people over 60 still call everything from the buttermilk to smith st. 'red hook' -- caroll gardens was a realtor's invention in the 1960s.
really, well I call the area by its original Dutch name "Red hooek cobles hill van buttermilken" because now the realtors are calling it "gowanus west-west" or worse yet, BoCoCa.
I say just call it what "Dine In Brooklyn" called it: Columbia Waterfront.
how about one step further -- lets settle on 'new amsterdam', then pull a vatican and become a separate
city/nation/state?
You must go back for their brunch. It's out of this world. And the owner and waiters are supernice.
Actually, you know, I've eaten at Alma twice and I was not that impressed, especially when you can get much better Mexican food at literally half the price in Sunset park or on 5th and 6th Ave. Mezcal's, in the same price range as Alma, is also better.
But yes, Alma does have a great view.
Last time I went, during Dine in Brooklyn, I liked the Ceviche, but the Tuna steak was preposterously overspiced with this crusty spice mix that tasted like a handful of heavily salted pine needles. Yowch.
actually the restaurant is not that good..the food is grossly overrated, and the people that work there look like they are all stoned and smoking pot..Mezcals is better..